The North Karachi Industrial Area Branch of UBL was recently inaugurated as a complete Islamic Banking Branch by Industrial Development & Management Company North Karachi CEO Syed Usman Ali. At present, Islamic Banking in Pakistan represents approximately eight percent of the total banking activity nationwide – but it is a fast growing financial trend that has attracted the attention of many Pakistanis who not only want to be financially sound but also religiously correct.
Within the past one year this is evident from the fact that deposits in the Islamic Banks of Pakistan have increased from about $3 billion to almost $4 billion and it continues to attract funds with more and more Islamic Banks coming up as well as all existing traditional banks, also, initiating their own Islamic Banking divisions. UBL’s Islamic Banking business ‘Ameen’, established in 2006, has also doubled its deposit base in 2010 with expectations of strong growth in 2011.